Journal Reviews
How can we manage children with poor speech discrimination but with normal audiogram
We often come across children and young adults brought in for consultation for suspected hearing loss and having hearing difficulty in noisy backgrounds but who often have normal audiograms. Such patients are suspected to have auditory neuropathy. The term auditory...
Does vestibular rehabilitation help patients with vestibular migraine? Is this also true if these patients have had a traumatic brain injury?
Vestibular migraine (VM) is a common diagnosis in ENT, and there is growing evidence that vestibular rehabilitation therapy (VRT) is an effective treatment, reducing self-perceived dizziness and improving gait. This is a retrospective review of the outcomes of 93 patients...
Sinonasal inverting papilloma and HPV - a meta-analysis of recurrent tumours
Sinonasal inverting papilloma (SNIP) is a common benign tumour of the sinuses. Difficulty lies in the association with metachronous or synchronous SCC of the sinus and also in the complete removal of the lesions due to their anatomical location. An...
Not as rare as we think? Silent sinus syndrome incidence on CT heads
It is relatively uncommon to come across a case of silent sinus syndrome (SSS), but not as rare as the prevalence in the literature might suggest – the authors of this study note that only 100 cases are reported in...
Impedance for different electrode types
Measuring cochlear implant (CI) electrode impedances is common in CI programming appointments to measure the integrity of the implant e.g. whether there are any open or short electrodes. This is because impedance measures the flow of current between intra and...
Dysphagia in people with HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer
Human papilloma virus (HPV) associated oropharyngeal cancers are becoming much more prevalent and, in some geographic areas, have overtaken tobacco as the leading cause of oropharyngeal cancer. HPV-associated cancers are also reported to have better prognosis in general, and research...
Balloon Eustachian tuboplasty – is it time to start doing it in children?
Given the potential applications for balloon Eustachian tuboplasty (BET) in children, its uptake in most centres has been slow. The reasons for this are multifactorial. There are technical issues – the feasibility of obtaining the correct size balloon and manoeuvring...
Asymmetrical hearing loss following prolonged occupational noise exposure
Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is one of the commonest occupational conditions and has been linked with increased risk of work-related injuries. Noise-induced hearing loss is traditionally associated with bilateral symmetrical sensorineural hearing loss unless they are exposed to unilateral noises,...
Unravelling the Meniere’s vs. migraine conundrum – what does the mastoid contribute?
This is an interesting observational study that attempts to classify subtypes of Meniere’s disease (MD) in relation to the coexistence of migraine. It is well known that the two conditions share common characteristics, making diagnosis and treatment challenging at times....
Clinical Practice Guideline on Tympanostomy Tube in Children Update (AAO-HNS)
The American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Foundation’s ‘Clinical Practice Guideline: Tympanostomy Tubes in Children (Update)’ has been recently published - an update of the original 2013 guideline. This article forms an executive summary to accompany the full guideline....
Talking to the animals
People with communication difficulties have an increased risk of mood and anxiety disorders. This often means that speech and language therapists must actively engage in counselling as part of their intervention. It is not surprising, therefore, that the active components...
Moving towards implanting children below 12 months of age
Newborn hearing screening has ensured that deaf infants are identified soon after birth so that habilitation can begin as early as possible. Cochlear implantation is a key component of early intervention for some children, but it is often not performed...
